The Royal Within Me
by SasuNaruJadiebaby
Summary: His onyx eyes glinted happily at his new discovery. He could not believe it. He had gotten a mate and not just any mate. He had found his soul mate, forming a bond that made him stronger than anyone, including his own father and perfect older brother. All he had to do was mate this blonde, blue-eyed fox demon. Its never that easy. The fox doesn't even know what he is. (SasuNaru) AU
1. Happens in the Woods, Stays in the Woods

Authors Note: This will be my first story that I have ever written. I would love some feedback. Any criticism to make me a better writer is welcome. I will be updating every week to every other week. I will see how many reviews or likes this story gets in its first week and see if it will be worth finishing. Also I will try to update my profile so that readers can get to know me from what I see there is supposed to be some sort of disclaimer. Well here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a work of fiction. **

**WARNING:**This WILL be a SasuNaru fiction so if you don't like, DON'T READ IT! You have been warned.

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Prolouge 

The boy rushed through the forest trying to escape from his relentless pursuer. He looked over his shoulder with a worried glance as his breath became labored. Unable to give up, he fled up to the treetops, hopping from branch to branch. Since he was running solely on adrenaline the boy's senses were strongly amplified. He could feel his pursuer gaining on him, so he decided to take desperate measures and rub his scent on passing trees. The one following him was tracking his scent, so he began to cross over his paths, rubbing his body against the rough bark misleadingly. 'That ought to slow them down.' He thought to himself as he headed back on course to the safe zone where he knew he would be was just a short ways from the safe zone when he heard a frustrated yell of utter outrage, probably because they had caught on to his smirked to himself, but his face fell when he felt his pursuer's energy flare up in anger and hastily move towards him. 'Crap!' He thought as he took off as fast as possible. He could practically see yhe safe zone through the trees. He could taste his victory and freedom just past the treeline, but as cruel fate would have it, his pursuer was right on his heels. He dared to look back over his shoulder and was met with intense red eyes glaring at his retreating form. Just before he could reach the treeline, he was snagged by the shoulder. The momentum allowed him to be pinned down on his back. His pursuer, with eyes now faded back to their clear, dark, color, leaned down by his ear and whispered menacingly, "Got you. You belong to me now."

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Chapter 1: What Happens In The Woods, Stays In The Woods

(Naruto)

Naruto had lived in the forest for all his life, or well... as long as he could remember anyway. He had spent most of his time just trying to survive day by day, consistently working to repair his home or find food. Nothing was set in stone for the next day and that was how he liked it. Coming upon his home, a hollowed out oak tree with branches woven together as a makeshift roof, he sighed to himself. He dropped off the wood he carried with him and headed back into the forest. His golden ears sat perked atop his head, one having a white tip. His tail was relaxed, swaying behind him with its deep golden fur blending into a pure white tip. Naruto let some of his inner self seep out so that he could smell prey. He led his instincts take over and guide him him while he forged for food. After he collected a decent amount of assorted berries, nuts, and and a field mouse that luckily crossed his path, he stashed them away in his home and headed to his favorite place to spend the rest of his day lazing around. He knew only one purpose, to live. He would sit and wonder what was outside of the forest boundaries, but knew that there was no reason to leave and find out. He was perfectly content and satisfied in the forest and did not feel the need to ruin anything with change. He did not remember anything outside of his life in the forest anyway.

He eventually returned to his 'home'. He never really liked calling it that, but it was easy to say. 'Its a place to sleep and eat, but I thing true home is something more' he mused to himself. He laid himself down on his soft bed of leaves and moss with his tail curled around himself while he drifted to sleep thinking about what a real home could be.

He was abruptly awoken by the sound of distant banging. This frightened him terribly because he had never heard this before. His ears were on high alert as heard something crash through the underbrush frantically coming towards him. Naruto quickly hid in the hollow of his tree as a figure started to emerge. Naruto sought to protect his territory and lunged at the figure but froze when he met deep onyx eyes. The eyes parted from his when the sound of multiple people crashing through the trees nearby caused the figure to turn towards Naruto in panic. Naruto, still lost in the attractiveness of the dark haired, onyx eyed being in front of him, was upset having his trance forcefully broken when the being grabbed his shoulders roughly. "You saw nothing. I was not here. You do not know me." The figure said before darting off into the trees.

New figures burst through the underbrush holding strange metal tubes with handles on them. Naruto just stood and waited curiously.

"Where'd that spoiled brat go!"

"He couldn't have gone too far! I'll kill him!"

"That insignificant runt doesn't deserve to live anyway. Who does he think he is?!" Exclamations from the three beings were heard.

Naruto saw red then because he did not know who or what these beings were, but he could sense they posed a threat to his beautiful onyx eyed being. He confronted the three beings and began to growl menacingly at them. They all turn to him with their metal tubes raised pointed in his direction until they saw exactly what he was.

"A fox demon." One being said in disbelief.

"A demon!"

"It's true! The Demon Prince has demons under his control!"

"I thought all the demons outside of the kingdom were dead."

"See? Its the powers of the Royal Prince to call forth powerful demons at will!"

"I cant shoot a fox demon. It would go on a rampage!"

"Retreat!" One of the figures shouted while quickly running back in the direction in which they came.

Naruto was deeply confused. 'A fox demon? What's that?' He tilted his head and flicked his tail, irritated. He decided to let it go because the dark haired figure was safe. 'That's it! I'll go ask the beauty what all that stuff is.' He thought cheerfully. He turned back to where his figure went and began to follow the scent into new territory. 'I will find him!' Naruto thought fervently. 'But, I wonder why those other beings didn't just follow the scent too? Oh well.'

(Sasuke)

Sasuke had finally gotten back to the castle to explain to his father why he was absent from the council meeting. Hr was completely exhausted and could not fully calm his heart down. To start, the day has progressed with him practicing his demon art mastery, when he had gotten ambushed on the training grounds. Itachi had just left to go visit his prospective mate so that he could rule the kingdom. Sasuke would be left out of all kingdom business after his brother was crowned. Sasuke resented the fact that he had no future. He refused to tell anyone, but the reason he was training so hard was so that he could fend for himself in the human territories after he left. He began to reevaluate this choice after his ambush. His coming of age was two months ago, but his full potential was locked until he found a mate. He was unable to defend himself from a mass human attack. He used his superior speed to dart off into the nearby wooded area. He heard shots being fired off as stray bullets hit objects in his surroundings.

"Shit. Those humans have guns!" He cursed under his breath as he continued to run. As he was slowly driven into foreign territory, he was surrounded by an overwhemingly pleasant scent. Thank goodness that humans sense of smell greatly lacked. He did not want anyone beside himself smelling this. The smell got stronger when he ripped through some underbrush. The overpowering smell of the scent in this area caused him to pause and he was met with startling blue ocean depths of eyes. He was rudely interrupted from this revelation by the sound of his followers. He told the filthy wonder, literally only wearing ripped up cargo shorts and a tight black cloth across his chest, to forget that he was there. He didn't want him to get involved. Sasuke planned to come back and find him later when it was safer. He continued to run and realized that his pursuers seemed to have stopped. He was brought up short by a fierce growl but decided to ignore whatever had caught the humans and continued home.

He had relayed all of this to his father, excluding the blue eyed wonder, and his father proceeded to add extra protection to the castle grounds. Sasuke returned to his room still daydreaming about his blue eyed blonde. 'Wait blonde?! Oh yeah, he did have a flash of blonde hair if I recall correctly.' Sasuke thought smiling to himself "Even better."

"Outoto, you're smiling." Itachi said with a grin as Sasuke walked past in the hallway. "One would think you have found a mate." Sasuke stopped in his tracks and glanced back at Itachi.

"You are smiling as well aniki. Did the meeting with your prospective go well?" Itachi's smile dropped at Sasuke's words. Sasuke walked into his room and plopped onto his bed. As he drifted to sleep he thought, 'Mate, huh? Yeah. That sounds about right. I like it.' He made the plan to head out in the morning to find his blonde and try to court him/ her.


	2. The Meeting of Mates

Authors Note: This will be my first story that I have ever written. I would love some feedback. Any criticism to make me a better writer is welcome. I think that even without a whole bunch of review I can what I see there is supposed to be some sort of disclaimer. Well here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a work of fiction.**

**WARNING:**This WILL be a SasuNaru fiction so if you don't like, DON'T READ IT! You have been warned.

Acknowledgements:

nelle13 : Thanks for being my first review. I was going to wait longer, but this update is just for you, I didn't expect any reviews at all. I will try not to dissappoint you.

KH freak 813: Thank you I will try my best. But it seems we have a similar taste in stories too.

(*Naruto*)

Naruto had followed the scent of his dark haired being to a structure unlike any he had ever seen before. He had already went over the conversation that he had with the threatening beings a multitude of times in his head. So far he was able to conclude that 1. His being was the one known as 'Prince' and 2. Both 'Prince' and himself were called by the name 'demon'. This made Naruto happy because it meant that he had something in common with his 'Prince'. Naruto was still a little apprehensive because what if 'Prince' was an insulting word the threatening beings used to describe his dark haired being. Naruto decided that instead of worrying about it, he would just ask the being himself in person later, then everything would be okay.

Naruto felt the underlying threat of others as he grew closer and closer to Prince's home. He masked his presence the same way he did when he was out hunting. He had trained his body to where he couldn't even be sensed by an ant. Naruto slowly crept around the strange structure while sniffing the air for his Prince. He found the scent coming the strongest from an opening on the structures second level. He leapt silently into the opening and found Prince on what had to be a bed. Prince was tossing and turning restlessly tousling the black comforter and red sheets. Naruto put on a worried frown and began to release his scent into the room to claim it and try to comfort the being. Naruto saw Prince sigh before relaxing in his sleep. Naruto crawled into the bed next to his being and drifted to sleep after feeling Prince curl into the warmth from his side. Naruto couldn't wait to see those onyx eyes once more.

(*Sasuke*)

_I was on the run again. Those humans had snuck onto the grounds again. I was worn out and the were beginning to gain on me. My breath came out in shallow pants and i tried to find an escape route. I could just see it now, my father talking to Itachi about my demise, "He was such a disgrace of a boy, son. He was caught by some weakling humans just because he could not find a mate." Just then a ghostly familiar pleasing scent flooded through my senses and suddenly I was no longer running. I was back in my room and could feel the presence of my blonde. I sighed contentedly and try to will the blonde over to me. I must've still been dreaming because he complied and crawled in with me. I curled myself closer to my hopefully future mates side and fell back to sleep against a comforting warmth._

Sasuke awoke slowly not wanting to wake up after such a pleasant dream. He pulled the covers up over his head and moved closer to the warmth beside him drifting back to sleep.

'Wait... Warmth?! What the…!'Sasukes eyes snapped open now blazing a bright alert red with slit cat-like pupils. Sasuke did not want to wake up whoever was next to him so he slowly pulled himself back as to not stir the person. His thoughts were running rampant in his head as he continued to cautiously pull back.

'Who is it?' 'How did they get in?' 'I left the window open, didn't I?' 'I only left it open because my dad had extra guards set up. That, plus the fact that I am a light sleeper with the best senses in the kingdom, even without being mated yet, means they shouldn't have been able to get in undetected. They must not mean any harm, I don't feel any ill intent. Let's see who it is. Someone who wants a death wish for entering my bed!' Sasuke froze in his retreat and mental rant when he felt an appendage move. He dared to glance down and saw the outline of a tail flicking irritably. He could not see what color it was due to the darkness under the covers. he would not received his full visual abilities until he was mated. 'A demon. A demon from my kingdom! Who would dare!?' he thought in outrage.

He was brought up short in his thoughts when he met gazes with the bright blue eyes he had been yearning for the past night. They were staring at him curiously in almost as if they were disappointed.

(*Naruto*)

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. 'How could I have followed the wrong scent?!' Granted, this being had the same dark colored features as Prince, but had blood red eyes. They were very attractive eyes, but they were not from the person he was looking for. 'How could this being have the exact same scent?' He had sensed the being waking up feeling overly feeling immediately turned into an alert wariness, but the being displayed no signs of reacting. Naruto's tail started to twitch in irritation when he felt the being in his arms start to pull away. Naruto met those red eyes and mentally scolded himself for being upset for this was not Prince, so why did he care? That's what he thought until those alluring red eyes faded into the enticing onyx pools that he knew and loved. He was even more entranced now that he knew Prince had two eye forms, both of which were very captivating. He let a small grin plaster itself on his face. 'This just gets better and better.'

(*Sasuke*)

After seeing that his visitor was his beautiful blonde from yesterday and did not pose a threat, he let his eyes fade back into his natural black. The blonde instantly perked up upon seeing his normal eyes and pounced on top of Sasuke while keeping eye contact through the whole process. Sasuke, who was in still in shock wondering why and how the miracle of a blond demon was in his room and where he came from,was broken from his musing by the feeling of the blond nuzzling his neck and sniffing at it lightly. The blonde seemed to have no concept of personal space, not that he minded all that much. He decided then and there that the blonde was his and nothing would stand in the way of that.

(*Normal P.O.V*)

Naruto sat astride Sasuke breathing in his wonderful scent while slowly releasing his own scent onto Sasuke. His tail wagged when he felt Sasuke automatically relax a great amount. Sasuke thought that he should save the questions for later because for now, he wanted enjoy the others presence. Upon smelling the overwhelming scent once again, Sasuke realized that this is what had calmed him down last night during his nightmare and silently thanked the blonde by letting out his own scent. This caused Naruto's ears to perk up happily at Sasuke's positive and willing response and bask in Sasukes scent.

Sasuke leaned up and returned the affectionate nuzzles to Narutos collarbone. Sasuke was confused by his own actions because he had never acted this way, with anyone, not even his own family. Demons were a race that relied on physical contact and affection, but Sasuke had never acted on it before. Somehow his instincts were telling him to go with the flow, and he didn't mind with the blonde anyway.

Sasuke was sated for now so he pushed Naruto up and sat up himself so that the boy, who was very nicely bodied in Sasukes opinion, was firmly seated straddling his lap, just the way he wanted it.

"Who are you?" Sasuke inquired.

"Naruto. Who and what are you? I've never seen anyone or anything like me before yesterday." Naruto asked curiously. He still wanted to know what he could call him by.

"I'm Sasuke. I'm a demon, like you."he replied , excluding the fact that he was prince of all demons. The statement confused Naruto greatly. At least now he knew that Prince was not the right term for Sasuke, but he had heard the other beings call him a demon before as well. Sasuke, due to his training, kept his ears and tail withdrawn to mask his power, so Naruto could see no similarities between them to mark them both as demons.

"Me? Demon? What's that? Were those demons chasing after you in the forest?"

"No, those were humans. You and I are demons. You can tell by our ears and tails. But Naruto, why don't you hide yours?" Sasuke could sense no power at all from this demon even with his ears and tail out. Either Naruto was that weak or he could do the impossible and hide his power with his ears and tail out. Even Sasuke himself couldn't accomplish that feat and would explain how Naruto got in without detection.

" I didn't know that I was supposed to, or how to hide them for that matter. I have been alone in the forest for as long as I can remember." Naruto said lowly glancing away ashamed.

" It's nothing to be upset about. Actually, now that I get a good look at you, I see you are a fox demon…Beautiful." Sasuke said in awe.

Naruto looked away and blushed. He turned back around towards Sasuke and asked, "Well how are you a demon if you do not have ears or a tail?"

"I just told you, I hide mine." Sasuke said. He was recalling that fox demons were supposed to be all powerful with multiple raging tails. Maybe Naruto was hiding his powers on a level. That, or Naruto was a very weak fox demon with one tail. "I don't reveal them to anyone because its like walking around bare. Ears and tails are sacred objects that only my family has seen. I'm am glad to be the only demon who has seen yours."

"Oh." Narutos ears drooped down. He wanted to see Sasuke's ears and tails too. He thought he would count as one of the only ones allowed to see them.

Sasuke almost felt compelled to release his ears and tails to Naruto. This was another sensation that he had never felt before. He could not stand to see Naruto looking so distraught. Just as Sasuke was about to release his ears and tail, Itachi burst into the room.

"Sasuke! Are you alright?! I smelt you release your scent and I heard voices, but a new scent was…" Itachi stopped abruptly when he took in the view he was provided with. His baby brother was protectively holding a blonde who was seated straddling Sasuke's lap. Sasuke had the boy covered in a way that Itachi was unable to make out the blondes face or demon features. He had never seen his brother behave this way before, Sasuke was not protective of others at all.. He was one to worry solely about self preservation, but it seemed like in this situation his first instinct was to protect. So, who was this blonde that was able to pull this cute side out of his little brother?

" Oh, I see Sasuke. Who is this? Your chosen mate?" Itachi asked smugly. He saw the blonde flinch closer to Sasuke at his words. "Is this why you were so jovial on yesterday?"

Itachi leaned closer trying to get a better view of the beings face, but they were nestled tightly into Sasuke's chest, who had curled over the blonde protectively when Itachi had leaned in. Sasuke began to growl lowly in his throat, another oddity because sasuke never went against his brother. He growled in warning to Itachi as Naruto began to tremble in his embrace. His brother had scared the blonde with his hasty entrance and Sasuke immediately pulled the blonde closer to him. Seeing that that supposed threat was just his brother, he began to relax which in turn calmed the tense demon in his arms down as well.

(*Naruto*)

He could not believe that he had freaked out about this. Yesterday he had completely stood his ground when he felt that Sasuke was threatened, but now, in Sasuke's embrace, he felt like he could let himself be protected. He burrowed deeper into the comforting heat of Sasuke's chest when he felt the figure lean in closer behind him. Soon he felt Sasuke relax and realized that whomever this was, wasn't a threat. he began to try and turn to look at the figure, but Sasuke just held him firmly with gentle hands.

"Itachi. Get. Out." sasuke said lowly. Naruto was in fear of the contrasting coldness used in his kindhearted gentle demons voice. It lacked any of its prior warmth and Naruto would be horrified to have that voice used on him. The other being in the room seemed to be frozen in shock at the change in demeanor as well, but Naruto could still feel Sasuke's body relaxed around him. "Now Itachi." He said forcefully.

"Fine, fine, little brother. I will get to know your little mae soon enough." The one called Itachi left the room, closing the door with a soft 'click'.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called hesitantly. He kept his eyes focused down on their laps because he was scared that his being was still angry. he did not want to face the cold gaze that the words projected or have those cold words spoken towards himself.

"Yes Naruto?" Sasuke asked gently as ever. Had Naruto imagined the cold voice? No. Maybe Sasuke only used the gentle voice with himself. naruto took pride in that fact.

"Are you okay now? Why didn't you let me see him?" Naruto queried curiously.

"He would have seen your ears and your tails. I want no one but myself to lay eyes on your true beauty. Now. Hide them. Just think of them being sucked into your body." Naruto, always being one to learn on his feet, got the idea immediately. He felt around his head and couldn't feel the familiar fluffy protrusions from his head. His hearing seemed slightly muffled, but it wasn't too impairing. His balance was also a little off, but it wouldn't cause any major issues.

"They're gone. It feels weird." He smiled at Sasuke. He was rewarded by a soft smile from Sasuke that floored his train of thought.

"You'll get used to it." Naruto locked eyes with Sasuke and couldn't help the tingling feeling that spread through his whole body sending an euphoric feeling up his spine. What is this? He had never felt this feeling before, but he certainly loved it.

(*Sasuke*)

"Did you feel that?" Naruto asked him with a breathy moan that other further verified that he had felt the pleasurable sensation as well. Sasuke himself certainly had felt that intense euphoria that had chose to manifest itself upon willingly meeting the blondes eyes. He knew what this meant and was awestruck. He had learned of this when he was just a youngling. He had been taught a legend that only revealed itself every few thousand years. he learned that some beings were fated to be mated before the were even born. Upon meeting the two became drawn to one another. the soul bond was formed when the two accepted and acknowledged the others presence and met eyes of their own volition. The soul bond lengthened the life of the two individuals as well. The two generally carried great strength separately and once mated would both be stronger than any beings before them. One of the pair would be the strongest being and always came from royal blood. Sasuke himself was an Uchiha from royal blood, while Naruto was from an unknown bloodline. The only two royal bloodlines in existence were the Uchiha and the Uzumaki, but the Uzumaki clan was wiped out 16 years ago. That meant Sasuke would be the strongest being between the pair. He had found a mate that would not only unlock his powers but give him infinite strength. He had found his soul mate. he could not believe it. Following the legend the only one strong enough to even come close to himself in strength would be his mate. Naruto must be hiding an immense amount of power then. To think that he is one of the strongest demons alive and nobody knows it, its astounding.

"Yes. I felt it." He barely managed to whisper out of his shocked lips. "This is amazing. Absolutely amazing." he spoke to himself in disbelief. He just could not wait to go tell his father. All those years of his father calling him weak would be thrown back into his "dear tou-san's" face. He would be stronger than anyone including his soon-to-be king brother. All he had to do was mate with his beautiful blonde soul mate whom also would be stronger than both his brother and father, the two strongest demons he knew of. his eyes began to bleed red in excitement.

"Sasuke?" naruto had said worriedly behind him.

Sensing the apprehension in Naruto's tone, Sasuke glanced down to check his soul mates appearance and view him approvingly. Naruto was such a beautiful selfless creature. Sasuke realized that he didn't need the soul mate bond to to be drawn in by the blond. The power given to him by the bond would just be an added benefit and would mean that he could take better care of his mate. His mate was undeniably attractive, but after living in the forest for all of his life, he had inadequate clothing, though his body looked well kempt and bathed.

"Hn." Sasuke responded to Naruto's worried words. He let his eyes fade back to black and stared at Naruto contentedly before getting up off his bed. He took Naruto's wrist and led him to the closet.

"Stay the." he said firmly. Sasuke went to find him something to wear. "No. that wont do. Too big…. Maybe?" he turns at looks at Naruto from inside his closet and shakes his head returning to rummaging through clothes. " Perfect!" Sasuke turned back towardds Naruto with his hands behind his back.

"Close your eyes and lift up your arms." Sasuke said leaving no room for argument in his voice. Naruto obeyed. Sasuke lifted narutos cloth off his torso and slid on the shirt that he picked out. He couldn't help but admire Narutos well sculpted torso, probably from years living in the woods. He left Narutos cargos on because they would do well enough, for now anyway.

"Ne, Sasuke? Whats this red and white fan thingy?" asked Naruto prodding at the new garment.

"It's my family's crest dobe." he didn't even bother explaining that only the royal families had crests and that Naruto wearing the crest marked him as belonging to Sasuke and being part of the Uchiha. Not just anyone was allow to bear the royal crest. As Sasuke looked more closely at the black cloth he had taken off of naruto. He saw a red circle with a black swirl inside of it. The crest looked vaguely familiar so he decide to save the cloth and ask his father which family the crest belonged to. Maybe he could find Narutos relatives and figure out why he was in the woods. But that would be done later. for now…

"What did you just call me, teme?!" Sasuke was surprised that, in the little of what Naruto knew, he was able to speak and understand Japanese. This boy was full of surprises and would keep Sasuke on his toes.

"I called it as I saw it. There is a dobe in front of me who apparently knows nothing about life but knows Japanese." Naruto's face dropped into a pout at the statement. The way he pouted with his bottom lip jutted out just slightly made Sasuke want to leap forward and crush Naruto to his chest for being so cute, but he controlled himself. He wondered how Naruto could be so irresistible. he decided to hurry to go see his father so that he could start the mating process. Sasuke began walking towards the family living quarters and told a servant to call the rest of his family there,

"Chotto, come along dobe." Sasuke said smirking back at the blonde still in the doorway.

"Hai, teme." naruto said running to catch up.

**Authors Note: **Any questions, concerns? I am also open to ideas on what color Naruto's eyes change too later in the text, any ideas? Also I need to figure out who should make top, Sasuke or Naruto. And I want to do a vote for who will be Itachi's mate. Just say Itachi X (whomever you would like).This chapter is way longer than the first one. If you got past the first one then congrats. I think you'll make it to the end of the story. Look forward to the next chapter: Getting To Know Each Other.


	3. Getting to Know You

Authors Note: This will be my first story that I have ever written. I would love some feedback. Any criticism to make me a better writer is welcome. Please review the story it really encourages the write you know! From what I see there is supposed to be some sort of disclaimer. Well here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a work of fiction.**

**WARNING:**This WILL be a SasuNaru fiction so if you don't like, DON'T READ IT! You have been warned. (This chapter does contain Sakura bashing)

Acknowledgements:

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

Upon entering the living room Sasuke veered over to the large chocolate brown sofa towards the left of the room. he was satisfied when Naruto plopped down onto the couch next to him and curled up into his side, folding his legs up underneath him and laying his head on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke wrapped one arm over Naruto's shoulders and stroked Naruto's hair with his other hand. After a few minutes Naruto began to let out a soft rumbling purr that vibrated through his chest and further relaxed Sasuke. Sasuke could do this forever because it was like a miniature bliss.

Naruto's purring abruptly stopped when the sound of steps nearing the living quarters was heard echoing through the halls. Sasuke let his hand fall from the top of Naruto's head and placed it into his own lap, but left his other arm resting wrapped around Naruto's shoulders.

"What is this about Sasuke?" said his father as he walked into the family area. Itachi silently followed behind his father with a smirk on his face like he saw this coming. Sasuke didn't want to introduce Naruto to his family so soon, but it was kind of necessary because soul mates are an urgent matter. Plus, I will have plenty of time with Naruto if the part of the legend about extended life spans was true. It was a shame that his mother wasn't around to see this day; she had died 5 years ago when hewas 12, around the same time my dad started calling him weak. That was all going to change right now.

Father's eyes were immediately locked on the stranger on the room. His gaze flickering between the crest Naruto was wearing and his face. Naruto looked up with a complete relaxed expression and gazed upon my fathers face unblinkingly as if he were calmly gazing at clouds. my father was taken aback by this; there were not many people who were not intimidated by his gaze. It only proved to him even more that Naruto was more powerful than my father could ever dream to be. His father glanced at him , asking for an explanation, before turning his gaze back to Naruto.

"Father, Itachi, please, take a seat." Without breaking his gaze on naruto his father walked around the opposing sofa and sat down. Sasuke growled lowly in his throat when his father refused to relinquish his gaze on Naruto. Sasuke didn't think his father had the right to look at his mate in such a way, ever. His father glared up at him narrowing his eyes to try an make Sasuke back down with a look that said ' Who do you think you are to growl at me?!' Sasuke was no longer intimidated by his fathers look so he ignored it and continued.

"Itachi this is the one whom I was with this morning." Itachi nodded his head in recognition of my words, smirk still planted on his face.

"Tou-san, aniki, this is Naruto,a fox demon, and my _soulmate_." I put emphasis on the word.

"..."

"..."

"What is this Sasuke?! Some sort of joke?! Because i certainly don't find it funny!" My father yelled in outrage. "How dare you! You are filthy weakling and you dare to claim that you have a soul mate! And a fox demon no less. There are no more fox demons!" My father said rising to his feet.

Naruto suddenly bolted up from his place beside me and stood in front of Sasuke protectively. He growled loudly at his father since he saw him as a threat to Sasuke. He remembered hearing the same growl yesterday when he was running in the forest and couldn't help but wonder what Naruto did to those humans yesterday. His father looked outraged that some lowly demon would dare to growl at him. Sasuke leaned back into the sofa completely relaxed because he knew that as his soulmate, Naruto was in no danger since they Naruto was more stronger than his father. He could sense that much because Naruto did not feel threatened in the least. Sasuke thought to himself how cute his little fox was when he was being protective. Naruto did not even know or care what being soul mates meant; he was protecting me of his own will for my sake. He didn't care that one of us had to be stronger than the other.

"How dare you growl at me you low peice of trash!" My father reared back him arm to strike Naruto for his disrespect and was blown across the room by the sheer force of the release of Naruto's power. It was so fast that Sasuke felt the flicker of his power build and then it was gone before he could get a read on it. Narutos control over his power was immeasurable; he didn't waste anything.

Sasuke smirked.

"Now do you understand?" Sasuke said. No one. Not even Itachi himself was ever able to overpower his father, and yet Naruto had done it effortlessly. Sasuke had actually started to doubt who the stronger one here was, but it could just be that Sasuke still could not fully release his powers until he was mated. Naruto was not of royal blood, there was no way that he was the stronger of the two. Sasuke didn't mind, either way he would be strong ( he just prefered to be strongest.)

Sasukes father pulled himself up from the pile of debris he had created when he hit the wall and stared at Sasuke with untold rage, but he also had a look of acceptance. Naruto still stood at the ready posed to protect, but his power seemed to have disappeared again like it never was there, waiting to spring out again.

"I must say that this is rather unexpected outoto." Itachi added. He appeared calm on the outside you could see the turbulence in his eyes from being shocked at Naruto's power and the barely there tremble in his voice at the end of his sentence when Naruto's eyes had flicked over to watch him speak.

"Naruto, Come here." Sasuke said softly. Naruto immediately dropped his stance and calmed down. He turned around happily and sat down in Sasuke's lap rubbing his head against Sasuke's chest.

"If it is alright with you father, as you know what this means, I would like to make the announcement tomorrow. Be proud. You gave birth to one of the strongests beings in a millenia. Now if you don't mind, Naruto and I are going to get a little acquainted with each other." I stood up abruptly causing Naruto to whine softly.

"Common Naru" instantly softening my voice to a tender call greatly contrasting the sharp barking tone used with my father. I gave him a soft smile and Naruto instantly perked up following me outside.

(*Normal P.O.V.*)

Itachi stood shocked at what had just seen occur in front of him. "Did Sasuke just smile?" He whispered to himself in disbelief. He shook himself out of the thoughts and turned to where Fugaku stood.

"Well there you have it father." Itachi said before calmly walking back to his room.

"My luck, what now?" claimed Fugaku in defeat as he went to go make preparations for his son's announcement. "Never thought I would have to do this for Sasuke, just Itachi." He said to himself.

* * *

"So Naruto, let's go spar for a while." Sasuke said holding his dobe's hand dragging him towards the training grounds. He had felt power that exceeded his own when it was released on his father and Naruto didn't even release his henge to let his ears out. Sasuke wanted to go to the training grounds to test something…

"Well that was a total failure." Sasuke sighed to himself. Sasuke could not get Naruto to fight him seriously at all. The blond dobe refused to show him any hostility at all and let himself be pinned several times. He even licked Sasukes collarbone playfully or lovingly several times in submission while on the ground. The dobe was making this so complicated. If he was stronger than Sasuke then why did he bend to his will so completely. Did Naruto like him that much? Sasuke realized he had grown attached to the dobe's presence already and was willing to do just about anything for him, but Naruto's level of loyalty was immensely greater.

"Dobe, Why wont you fight me?!"

"What kind o f stupid teme wants to fight willingly anyway? Naruto said in answer. Sticking his tongue out at Sasuke playfully.

"Whatever dobe." Sasuke stood and walked away towards the village with Naruto trailing behind him. This wasn't getting him anywhere anyway. Sasuke was going to let Naruto get some casual clothes that fit him. Since Naruto would be wearing the Uchiha Crest from now on, it was only fair that he was able to get a few outfits with his original family crest on them. Sasuke needed to find the rags of clothing to give to the royal tailor so that Naruto's crest could be replicated. it was a shame that the only way Naruto could keep his original crest would be if he was from a royal bloodline clan like Sasuke was. Naruto would officially be an Uchiha unless we found out what clan he was in, if he had one. If Naruto had a clan, then we could just do a Unity Mating combining the clans instead of just merging Naruto into an Uchiha.

Upon leaving the tailor, after arranging to have the clothes delivered to the castle, Sasuke began to get confronted by his 'adoring fans'. Known as the young, strong, and unmated demon prince, Sasuke had strong popularity all over the village and was every eligible young demons fantasy, male and female alike. None of them would know that he had already chosen a mate until the announcement tomorrow. Well at least thats what the plan was. Soon, Sasuke was crowded and lost Naruto in the wave of people around him.

* * *

(*Naruto*)

Naruto did not know what was going on. One minute he is walking happily next to Sasuke heading back to the castle, and then the next, he gets pushed to the side by all of these young demons trying to get to Sasuke. He could smell them all beginning to let out their scents to try and attract Sasuke to mate with them. To Naruto, it smelt like someone had burned trash and then threw some raw sewage on it to douse the flames. His overly sensitive nose could not take the onslaught of foul scent overload on his senses.

He began to panic at the edge of the crowd because he could not find Sasuke past the flock of people in the street surrounding him. Did Sasuke have go through this everytime he went into the village? Naruto asked himself. Sasuke must not go into the village too often then, and Naruto realised Sasuke came for his sake to get him clothes. Naruto grew more and more irritated. Sasuke was his mate, no his soulmate. Sasuke belonged with him, not these foul smelling animals in heat trying to lay claim to Sasuke. His panic immediately faded and was placed by determination. If he couldn't see Sasuke then he would find as him as soon as possible no matter what! Sasuke was his. So these demons were going to get out of his way to Sasuke or else he was going to make them move!

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

"..uto"

"Naruto!"

Sasuke had been calling frantically for Naruto ever since he had lost him in the crowd. For some reason the crowd was releasing their heat scents and it smelled horrid as if they had all sat rotting in the sun. He never had smelt this before when the crowds were around him, even though he could sense the demons' heat. Maybe the scent of other demons did not matter to him before he had gotten his soulmate. Now that he had his mate he could tell the difference between a good and bad scent. Naruto's scent was warm and comforting like freshly baked goods mixed with a warm cinnamon smell. Here he felt suffocated.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" One of his fangirls, Sakura, asked him.

"Yeah, why do you look so distressed?" Ino said reaching up to grab his arm. He shook her off as if he had been burned. He couldn't handle anyone other than Naruto touching him, it felt disgusting.

"Naruto!" he shouted once more.

All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light and an immense blast of heat. Everyone backed away shielding their eyes, except for Sasuke. To him the light and heat felt comforting as if it were calling him home. He looked towards the source and saw Naruto breathing heavily with smoke coming out of the sides of his mouth with every harsh pant. He just breathed fire! Sasuke could not believe his eyes. Only the Uchiha specialized in fire type techniques. How could Naruto be and more surprising or better matched for Sasuke?

"Sasuke.." Naruto said making Sasuke shiver at the sound of his name.

* * *

(*Naruto*)

"Sasuke is mine!" he snapped. He stepped through the crowd heading straight towards Sasuke. He had almost reached him when two female demons stepped in front of him and blocked his path. He didn't even look at the two as he stopped in his tracks and gazed passed them to Sasuke with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Who in the hell do you think you are, huh? Claiming Sasuke like that!" Sakura sneered.

"Yeah. Sasuke is no more yours than his is ours. Get lost you low class piece of trash. So what? You know one little trick to breathe fire. That doesn't give you the right to have Sasuke. Anyway, everyone here can feel that your power level is next to nothing. Filthy weakling.

She reached forward and shoved Naruto squarely in the chest. He barely flinched at the movement. He was horrified at what the she-demon had said. She claimed the Sasuke belonged to everyone. He couldn't fathom the idea that Sasuke could belong to anyone other than himself. He did not know about the way things worked outside the forest so he was unsure if the trashy smelling demon was right. His face carried a lost expression.

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

He had heard enough. That blonde haired slut had sounded just like his father calling others weak when they knew nothing! That was the last straw. He had put up with these two for years, but he would not tolerate anyone harming Naruto, with words or otherwise. He looked into Naruto's hurt gaze and made his choice. Those two were going to suffer.

"Sakura. Ino…." Sasuke barked out.

"Yes, Sasuke" they both said sweetly, completely disregarding Naruto, who looked hurt that Sasuke was actually giving the awful characters his attention. They both looked at Sasuke expectantly.

" To put it nicely, I hate you both, very much." A pause. "I don't belong to anyone but my soulmate Naruto over there." Sasuke said with a sneer. "You both smell terrible by the way, maybe you should go bathe. And keep your paws off of me! I wouldn't want to catch your stench." Sasuke added that last bit when a shocked Sakura had reached out to touch him. "If you ever, and I mean ever, disrespect my mate like that again, I will have you both exiled!" The two girls ran off with crocodile tears in their eyes. Sasuke could care less about anyone else right now though.

"Naruto." Sasuke said with a gentle voice turning to face Naruto. "That was amazing, Naruto." Naruto was still in shock that Sasuke had claimed to belong to him. Sasuke really was only his. Naruto couldn't care less about the crowd around them still watching and ran up to Sasuke to jump into him arms.

Sasuke could honestly say he was shocked, but caught Naruto happily him to his chest. He could feel the extra warmth radiating from Naruto from releasing his inner fire. Now that the damn Rabbit and Pussy demon were out of the way, he could fully appreciate Narutos scent.

"You belong to me too, Naruto. have I ever mentioned how good you smell?" Sasuke said softly into Naruto's ear.

"You too Sasuke. Youre mine and you always smell amazing." To naruto, Sasuke smelt refreshing and earthy like spicy cinnamon and cool mint. it relaxed Naruto to no end.

"Naruto, do you think we could finish this later." Sasuke said stiffly. Naruto puled back to look around and saw half the village staring at them. Naruto released Sasuke immediately with a blush on his cheeks.

"Yes, whatever you say Sasuke , sorry." He turned and heading in the direction he thought the castle was. Sasuke fell into pace beside to Naruto looking at him with a playful smirk. "So you breathe fire now? What else's new?" Sasuke asked.

"Well I've never made it that big before, but I usually use it to start fires when it gets cold in the winters or when I wasn't sure if the animal I caught was infected." Naruto added sheepishly. "Was that bad?"

"No Naruto, that was amazing! I'm going to have to kiss you one of these days after we both breathe fire. That would be one hot kiss, quite literally." Sasuke said without thinking. He could see it in his mind and just thinking about it made him excited, so he couldn't stop it from leaving his mouth.

"You can breathe fire too?!" That's the part Naruto paid attention to? "And what do you mean kiss?" Naruto added excitedly. Dammit!

"I'll show you later!" Sasuke said hastily. He didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of naruto, so he explained that is was something you did with someone you loved to show them how much you felt for them and it could be very pleasurable.

"So you mean like when we made the bond, that tingly feeling?"

"Something like that."

"Sounds good to me. But does that mean you love me?" Naruto said glancing up at Sasuke with innocent eyes.

"Well wouldn't you like to know dobe? I guess we'll just have to see later, won't we?"

Naruto put the adorable pout Sasuke liked so much back on his face, but continued to walk alongside him. They made it back to the castle and went back and forth talking to one another about trivial things. Anything that came into their minds such as their favorite things to do,how they hunt for prey (though Sasuke did it rarely),or how they feel about marking territory. The topics were endless. By the time sunset came around, they both had learned a great deal about each other and were laughing at Naruto's story of when he had chased a mouse into a log in his fox form and gotten stuck. Naruto had promised to show Sasuke his fox form sometime. It was at this point that Sasuke remembered that he had not showed Naruto his ears and tail yet. Now was a good of a time as any.

"Naruto, do you still want to see them?" Sasuke asked hopefully. He wanted to show Naruto what kind of demon he was because he was dying to see what his reaction would be. he took pride in his ears, even if his father thought otherwise.

"Of course teme! Can I please see them?" Naruto asked excitedly. He was happy that Sasuke though Naruto wa special enough to share something he's never willingly showed anyone before besides his family. "Wait can I let mine out first?

" Sure." Sasuke welcomed the gesture. It made him feel more comfortable is both their henges would be released.

"Umm Sasuke?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"How do I release the henge to let them back out?" Sasuke smirked. He had forgotten that his dobe was a dobe.

"You think about them extending from your body and becoming one with yourself again. Will them to come out." Naruto closed his eyes and soon he was sporting his fluffy, twitching, white tipped appendages once more. Naruto's tail was wagging excitedly behind him. "You turn Sasuke. Common."

"Alrighty then." Sasuke proceeded to crawl on the bed besides Naruto stretching his body like a lazy cat. His slightly rounded black ears popped out from atop his head and a tail could be seen straining inside his pants. Sasuke reached behind himself and pulled his tail through the flap specially made in the back of all of his pants for his tail. He laid on his stomach on the bed with his head resting on top of his folded arms. He stared sideways at Naruto to observe his reaction.

Naruto had all of his focus on Sasuke's tail flicking around in the air. Sasuke decided to see what the big deal was and flicked his tail to the left, watching as Naruto's eyes followed the movement carefully. Sasuke smiled into the side of his arm. He hung his tail in the air as if it was tired and then sharply flicked it to the right seeing Naruto's whole body flinch after it with his tail wagging behind him playfully. Narutos body was ready to pounce so when Sasuke flicked his tail in another direction Naruto leaped after it, but Sasuke kept his tail just out the of reach of Naruto's hands. Sasuke enjoyed the pure innocent joy naruto seemed to take out of his tail. He lightly thumped Naruto in the face with his tail catching him off guard. Sasuke brought his tail up towards his face to attract Naruto's attention. As much as he enjoyed doing this, he still wanted the blonde's opinion. "Soo.. What do you think?" he asked nervously.

"I love them Sasuke." Naruto said with straight sincerity in his voice. "They're so beautiful and elegant..." Naruto reached up to touch one of Sasuke's ears rubbing it gently. "Soft and silky too. What kind of demon are you Sasuke?" Naruto asked cutely, tilting his head.

That was the question Sasuke dreaded. His heart started to beat faster hammering against his chest. Sure his ears and tail looked great now, but what what would naruto think when he found out they were a rarity, an abnormality? Would Naruto reject his demon form like his own father had, only seeing it as an ugly difference? only one way to find out.

Sasuke took a deep breath. " I am a…."

* * *

Authors Note: Don't hate me. I just had to do it. I am issuing a challenge. Can any of you guess what Sasuke is. I think I dropped quite a few hints, and a few of you may come close, but I doubt you will get it right. Look forward to the next chapter. 'The Announcement, The Truth' I will update ASAP.


	4. Answers

Authors Note: This is the first story that I have ever written. I would love some feedback. Any criticism to make me a better writer is welcome. Please review the story it really encourages the write you know! From what I see there is supposed to be some sort of disclaimer. Well here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a work of fiction.**

**WARNING:**This WILL be a SasuNaru fiction so if you don't like, DON'T READ IT! You have been warned.

(THANK YOU TO ALL MY WELCOME REVIEWERS 3 YOU ARE THE ONLY REASON I AM POSTING THIS STORY.{other than for my own safekeeping})

* * *

"I am a... tiger demon." Sasuke wincing at the weak sound of his voice.

"If you're a tiger demon, then why is your tail blackish gray with ebony stripes? Arent tigers orange?"

"My demon is a melanistic tiger. They're rare all black tigers. My dad saw that as an unforgivable weakness but I always knew that it was my strength."

"Sasuke your coat is beautiful. I love it the way it is and I actually prefer it over the regular orange and wouldn't change it for anything. Fuck what your dad says."

Sasuke smiled and hugged Naruto to him. What did he ever do to deserve such a great mate? He fell asleep to the feel of Naruto's warmth curled against him, Naruto gently petting along his tail that lie in between the two.

THE END.

* * *

(Just Kidding)

Sasuke woke up the following morning warm and content. He went to stretch and felt a weight resting on his chest. When he looked down and saw Naruto laying with half his body resting on top of himself, he let out a satisfied sigh. Naruto had Sasuke's tail curled up to his chest like a stuffed animal. His soft pants filled the rooms peaceful silence. Sasuke could get used to waking up with Naruto by his side. He looked so beautiful when he slept, long blonde eyelashes falling on his cheekbones, mouth slightly parted. As much as he hated to, Sasuke had to wake Naruto up. The announcement of their mating was made today, if there was anyone left who hadn't seen there little scene we made in the village yesterday. We had to start getting ready. Since the tip of my tail was free from Naruto's grasp, I brushed it lightly against Naruto's nose that was curled close to his chest where he held my tail. He mumbled in his sleep and rubbed his nose.

"Stop. Suke." He smacked lightly against Sasuke tail when he rubbed it against Naruto's chin. Sasuke couldn't pull his tail completely from Naruto's grasp because he would clench his hands when he felt it begin to slip away. As much a Sasuke enjoyed sleeping without his henge and having Naruto so comfortable with his tail, this was definitely a problem.

"Naruto, Oi Naruto!" Sasuke finally gave up on waking Naruto up gently and whacked him in the side of the head with a pillow. Naruto sat up holding Sasuke's tail up in front of him like a weapon that he was prepared to use against his attacker. Sasuke could no longer help himself. He let out a small chuckle, and then burst into full blown laughter. Sasuke's lighthearted laughter filled the room as he clutched his stomach. Naruto pouted at being laughed at, but soon he couldn't help a small grin from breaking out on his face. he thought Sasuke had a wonderful laugh.

"Ha ha….. ha. Wow!" Sasuke said wiping away a few tears. " I haven't laughed since.." Sasuke immediately dropped his lingering smile. He was confused at himself. The last time he had laughed was before his mother had passed away. He looked at Naruto's concerned face and softened his expression.

"Thank you Naruto." Sasuke said sincerely. He was humbled at the fact that his mate could accomplish what no other had done in 5 years. He was just continuously full of surprises.

"Dobe, get up. We have to get ready to make the announcement today."

* * *

(*Naruto*)

Naruto groaned unhappily, but could not wait to let the whole town know that Sasuke was his. The other demons' species were unknown to him and he could not help but wonder what they were. Living in the forest all his life, he could not come to terms with the fact that there were others like himself and to make matters worse, they all hid their ears and tail behind a henge. Naruto knew nothing about how things were supposed to function, so he decided to just go along with whatever Sasuke said to do, knowing he would never lead him wrong.

When Sasuke got up from his bed, he trailed him to the bathroom, which he had been directed to yesterday after the conversation on marking territory. He was fascinated at the bowl that he peed in to. It was somehow able to make everything disappear, which Naruto had tested by dropping several of Sasukes random belongings into it making Sasuke give him a lesson on what was supposed to go in there. Naruto sat on the sink while Sasuke groomed himself and brushed the inside of mouth with some strange stick with bristles on one end. Sasuke had told him it was used to clean his teeth. Naruto had always chewed on bones to naturally clean his teeth, but this way looked way less potentially painful.

Sasukes familiar minty smell filled the air. Naruto released his own scent thinking that Sasuke was doing the same. Sasuke, just finishing rinsing his mouth out, froze.

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

Naruto's scent was so much more appealing when his henge was dropped now that his senses weren't muffled. He was so lost in the scent that he went towards Naruto and placed his body in between his legs where they were hanging off the edge of the sink. he buried his face into Naruto's neck and breathed in deeply.

"Dobe never release your scent around anyone but me okay?" Naruto, probably enjoying the feeling of Sasuke rubbing against his throat, hummed in response. He brought his hand up and softly pet Sasuke behind the ears, gently rubbing against them every once in a while.

Sasuke abruptly pulled back from Naruto's touch and headed out of the en suite bathroom towards the bedroom door. he had almost purred! he thought to himself. sasuke had almost purred like a little kitten in Naruto's arms. No matter how relaxing it was, that was unacceptable. He quickly put his henge back up to hide his ears as he prepared to open the door almost thankful for the interruption. He could sense his brothers presence waiting on the other side of the door. Itachi, for some reason, was refusing to knock or make himself known in anyway, which was odd because usually he would just burst right in unannounced. Sasuke had requested for Itachi to come by his room because he needed to ask for a favor.

* * *

(*Itachi*)

Itachi had awoken to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He slowly sat up and turned to the door still trying to fully wake up.

"Who is it?" He spoke calmly.

"A servant delivering a message from Sasuke-sama, Itachi-sama."

"Speak." Itachi said now wide awake.

"Sasuke-sama requests your presence in his quarters this morning."

Itachi immediately got up and headed over to his closet. "Is that all then?" He called out, his voice muffled from inside his closet.

"Yes, Itachi-sama."

"Thank you. Be on your way." Itachi heard the servants retreating footsteps from hi door.

As Itachi got dressed, he thought about why his little brother would want to see him personally. He was fully dressed in his black robes with red trim and all black underclothes as he headed off to Sasuke's room.

When he came to the hallway leading to Sasuke's room he heard the soft sound of laughter echoing through the corridor. He could not believe his ears. He sped down to Sasuke's doorway and listened in closely. No one in the castle had laughed on many years, so it had to have been Naruto laughing, right? Of course it wasn't. He had heard Sasuke comment on how long it had been since had laughed and thanked Naruto.

Itachi felt immensely jealous of Naruto all of a sudden. How could he make Sasuke laugh so whole-heartedly after only being with him for one day? Itachi could do nothing bu stand there fuming in the hallway, but happy at the same time. He did not want to ruin the moment by bursting into Sasuke's room per usual.

Sasuke's head suddenly peeked out of the doorway looking up at Itachi. he must've seen the dumbstruck expression on Itachi's face because he raised his eyebrow at him in a confused manner.

"Itachi. Come in." Sasuke said slowly. "I need to ask something of you." Sasuke opened the door all the way gesturing for Itachi to enter. Sasuke's voice was void of all the gentleness and joy itachi had heard through the door. That's just how Uchihas were. Somehow Naruto had managed to break through the Uchiha mask of indifference. itachi hoped that he could find someone like that who he could relax and be himself with. The prospective mate that his father had chosen him, a spotted snow leopard named Konan, was greatly dull. Itachi had done some research on this mate (his specialty) and found that although very powerful, she did not speak out very much. She had even agreed to mate him even though she had favored a red siberian husky named Nagato or some sorts. He would have produced powerful Uchiha heirs but she had been raised as a submissive mate. Itachi wanted someone that would keep him interested. He resigned himself to the fate of being a lonely king.

"Itachi" Sasuke's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Yes Sasuke, what is it you need?"

"I called you, instead of father or some servant, because I thought this would be your area of expertise. I remembered you had an interest in these sort of this and…" Sasuke paused as he went over to his dresser and came back with a tattered black cloth. "... If this is what I think it is, I cannot trust anyone else with it."

Itachi was officially interested. What could be so important about this scrap of fabric, he said silently to himself.

"The crest on Naruto's… shirt" Itachi could understand the hesitation, this scrap did not even resemble a shirt. "I wanted you to see if you could find out what clan it was from. i think Naruto's clan is special. It is very important to me Itachi. I know you have an interest in rare clans' histories, and I know I have seen this crest somewhere before." He held out his hand with the piece of fabric in it, a serious expression on his face.

"Please Itachi." Itachi blinked in shock. Sasuke had never asked Itachi for anything before. Plus, he most certainly had never said please.

"Sure thing little brother." Itachi gently took the fabric from Sasuke's hands. "I will try my best"

Sasuke bowed lightly in thanks and Itachi turned to head to his study. He would find out what was so important about this crest.

* * *

Authors Note: So did you guess right? Meh, who cares. Its the thought that counts! I am considering adjusting my P.O.V. I'm thinking of making the views first person for a few chapters (flashbacks and all that). Tell me what you think I would like to apologize in advance as this chapter and the next chapter may be shorter than usual. Next chapter will be a lot of back story. Chapter 6-8 is what you are really waiting for. It has an all too fun plot that I cant wait to shared with you guys. Look forward to the next chapter "The Announcement."


	5. The Announcement

Authors Note: This is the first story that I have ever written. I would love some feedback. Any criticism to make me a better writer is welcome. Please review the story it really encourages the writer you know! From what I hear there is supposed to be some sort of disclaimer. Well here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a work of fiction.**

**WARNING:**This WILL be a SasuNaru fiction so if you don't like, DON'T READ IT! You have been warned. There is also a bit of OOCness here and there in the story.

This chapter is not as short as I thought. But the last chapter was. Sorry. I try not to write under 1,500 words though. I hate it when chapters are short. So why do that to you guys? If you stick with me, I will try to blow ya away!

* * *

(*Itachi*)

As Itachi unfolded the fabric onto his desk and finally saw the crest, he flew out of his chair and slammed his hands down on either side of the cloth. His eyes widened in disbelief. He sped over to one of the many bookshelves that occupied his study. He finally found the book he was looking for on one of the older shelves in the back of the study.

The book was actually about his favorite historic clan, the only other clan besides the Uchiha with a royal bloodline, The Uzumaki clan. The astounding thing was that the mark that Naruto carried on his so called shirt stood proudly on the front cover of the book.

The Uzumaki clan was one of the only clans to ever be made up of solely one species of demon. The fox.

The Uchiha clan was close second in keeping a specific species inside the clan, sticking to only large species of felines. Most of the Uchiha Royals were tigers or panthers allowing the rest of the clan to be other feline species. Lion demons somehow became impotent, having great power but lack of agility or cunning no one saw them as strong; they died off eons ago. Itachi himself is a white bengal tiger being the exact opposite of Sasuke's melanistic siberian tiger. Thier father is a bengal tiger while their mother was a pure-bred siberian tiger. (Probably another reason why their father chose to target Sasuke, even though as a siberian tiger he was naturally larger and stronger than a bengal, even with his coloring.) The panthers included their cousin Obito and family friend Kakashi, a half-demon who was a guard in the Uchiha household.

The closest thing the clan had to a lion was a liger, their uncle Madara. He had somehow gotten cells from the last lion Harashima and combined them with his tiger. He had been defeated by the fox clan before Sasuke was born after trying to take over the clan with his new power.

The Namikazes Royals were different. Foxes and foxes only. If any new breed mated anyone in the clan, rare as it may be that one mated out of the clan, they did not become one of the clan, but their young became part of the clan. Fox genes were always dominant for some reason so all young were automatically foxes. All new generations would consist of fox demons.

As with most demons, after mating, their powers were fully unlocked, but most gained great power measured in the tails they received and the color of their fur.

(SEE INDEX)*  drawings/d/1BwZw6ABoqQqpLuApV7Mu2v5ZciNZMZs4vPmkoYol63E/pub?w=960&h=720

The most that Itachi had ever heard of was when the clan leader had gotten 8 tails upon mating with the rare golden fox demon. They were said to have given birth to two sons. Everyone believed that the two sons would have nine tails, they most that a fox demon could possess, when they finally mated and the people nicknamed the first born Kyuubi. It was also rumored that the second son was a golden fox just like his mother and would be the most powerful fox demon so far, with his brother being another powerful 9 tailed fox demon as well.

The fox demons were said to be wiped out shortly after the second son's birth when a rivaling human king named Orochimaru got jealous of the two sons power. He planned to kill the two offspring off before they could mate and release the full potential of their power. Orochimaru killed off the rest of the fox clan to prevent any future generations of strong foxes from arising including any of the foxes that had mated into others clans, few as they may be.

He used a chakra controlling curse seal that took the power the mating mark had over a demon and used it to control on the king to turn him on the people before making him end his own life. This, in turn, killed his mate as well through the mating bond.

It is the secret of the Uchiha Royals that Orochimaru had done this to prevent war. All other demons and humans believed that the king went on a rampage and murdered all of his people. That is why fox demons have the reputation on going on a rampage and are seen as feared creatures by all.

Legend says that the two sons were able to escape, even though Orochimaru believes to have killed them with his own hands.

If this was true then a few facts suddenly became clear to Itachi. #1. The legends were apparently all true. #2. Naruto was one of the missing sons of the Uzumaki Royal line. Naruto was the heir to the Uzumaki lineage. He would be seen as one of the strongest beings alive. # naruto was from a royal bloodline stronger than the Uchiha, Naruto was the most likely the stronger one between the two soulmates. #4. If Orochimaru caught wind of this he was likely to try and kill Naruto once more.

It also raised several questions in Itachi's mind. was Naruto's supposedly surviving brother? 2. How did they survive the attack? 3. How would they be able to keep Naruto safe? 4. Why did Naruto, powerful as he was, willingly submit to one such as Sasuke? Itachi had seen it with his own two eyes. Naruto was undenyingly loyal to Sasuke and listened to him faithfully even though he could easily overpower anyone who opposed him. And most importantly 5. What now…?

He returned to Sasuke within 15 minutes of his departure. Surprising Sasuke at how fast he had completed his task. Usually it took hours to look through the crest books to find a match.

He relayed all of his discoveries to Sasuke and Naruto, who sat to the side listening intently. His ears and tails had been hidden at Sasuke's command before Itachi was allowed to enter the room so Itachi was unable to tell if Naruto was the golden fox or not. Naruto had several conflicting emotions flickering across his face so Itachi decided to give the two some time and space to process the information.

"Itachi, before you go…" Sasuke called after his retreating form. "Could you relay this to father, to add to the announcement later today?"

" Are you sure that's the best idea? With Orochimaru and all?"

"Yes, the people won't accept a fox demon any other way"

"Of course Sasuke." Itachi turned to walk away.

"And Itachi?" Itachi glanced over his shoulder.

"Yes Sasuke?"

"Thank you." Sasuke's voice softened a bit at the end. Itachi couldn't believe his ears once again. He would have to get those checked. He schooled his expression and turned with a small smirk on his face.

"Sure thing outoto." He said heading off to tell his father the news.

* * *

(*Naruto*)

He did not know what emotion he was supposed to be feeling right about now. He usually did not have to deal with such complicated emotions. He could eat when hungry, cry when he got hurt, be content when he woke up the next day. After meeting Sasuke those emotions completely did a 180 and now the new information was scrambling his emotions all over the place.

He was happy at the fact that he was part of a Royal Bloodline, whatever that meant, because Sasuke was part of one as well. It meant that he used to belong somewhere, but also made him feel disheartened that his family had been slaughtered at his expense. Another thing was his brother; he was hopeful that he at least had a brother somewhere out there alive. He was frightened of this Orochimaru person because what if he decided to control Naruto and make him hurt Sasuke. He was also confused with himself. He didn't know that the soulmate from the stronger royal bloodline would be the stronger mate; it made no sense. Sasuke was strong. Naruto did not want Sasuke to feel bad because of him. Also, this golden fox Itachi mentioned that was supposed to be rare; Naruto's golden blonde fox ears and tail had never seemed so special before. He had wanted to tell Itachi he was the golden fox, but Sasuke had given him a look that said not to. He was rare and powerful apparently, but none of that mattered. He had nowhere left that he belonged and no family except for a possibly alive brother. He never knew he could miss something he never had. He longed for it. All of this was a lot for Naruto to take in.

"Naruto." Sasuke softly called from beside him.

'Sasuke.' Naruto thought. 'Sasuke! Sasuke is still here. I do have somewhere to belong as long as Sasuke is by my side.' He didn't care if Sasuke was stronger or not.

"Do you know what this means, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't understand what Sasuke was referring to, and unless it was the fact that he stays with Sasuke, he definitely didn't know what this meant.

"You can keep your crest. Naruto, you won't have to become an Uchiha. You could unify the royal bloodlines. You could rectify your clan!"

Naruto just stared at Sasuke with a blank expression. He did not really care about what Sasuke was saying, although the idea of more foxes was appealing.

"You don't even care, do you dobe?" Sasuke said looking at Naruto exhaustedly, dragging his hand down his face.

Naruto put a goofy grin on his face and shook his head. "Let's go, teme. We have an announcement to make right?"

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

He could not believe Naruto's inner strength. Naruto had just been bombarded with a heavy load of information, yet he brushed it off as if it was trivial news next to Sasuke and the announcement. Sasuke was a little irritated that Naruto was stronger than him, but he could barely contain his excitement that naruto was the golden fox Itachi spoke of. Sasuke wanted to keep that between them at the moment. Naruto was his, all his and no one else could have him or even deserved him. 'Hell, even I don't think I deserve him.'

He could not wait to see Naruto's demon form. A cute little blonde fox would be too irresistible. He promised himself to shift with the blonde demon in the forest sometime.

"Naruto, are you really alright?" He let his ears and tail back out in an attempt to cheer the blond up all the way. Naruto instantly perked up a little bit more. He could see Naruto itching to release his henge while staring at Sasuke's ears adoringly. Sasuke pounced on top of Naruto who was sitting on the bed and attempted to pin him down playfully. Naruto ended up underneath him giggling slightly. Suddenly, Naruto rolled them both over and sat squarely on top of Sasuke's stomach, staring down innocently.

"Did I win?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head/

"Yeah sure, dobe. Now, get off me." Sasuke said slightly rattled from the suddend position change.

Naruto jumped up happily and proceeded to follow Sasuke as he was led to the ceremonial room.

* * *

Sasuke was dressed in his white robes with blue trim and a lavender rope tied around his waist. Naruto stood beside him shuffling uncomfortably in one of the few robes he had picked out without Sasuke's help and had the Uzumaki crest on it. The robes were a faded golden yellow with orange trim. The Uzumaki crest was stamped proudly on his sleeve cuff and on the center of his back. Sasuke's crest sat proudly in between his shoulder blades.

"Sasuke , I don't like this type of clothes" Naruto whispered over to him. Sasuke smirked and gave Naruto a look that said 'So? You have to wear it.'

People from all over the kingdom began filing into the ceremonial room as his father entered and slowly sat on the throne next to Sasuke. Itachi sat on the other side of his father, looking around the room expectantly.

When the flow of guests calmed down , Fugaku stepped up to the crowd and cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"I would like to announce that my second son, Prince Uchiha Sasuke, has found his soulmate." The crowd stood shocked into silence and Sasuke could hear Naruto growl under his breath for some reason. The crowd broke into rowdy cheers when they finally connected the dots of what having a soulmate meant.

"Calm Yourselves!" his fathers loud voice boomed throughout the room.

"His soulmate is the demon fox, last known surviving heir to the Uzumaki Clan Royal Bloodline, Uzumaki Naruto."

Silence.

No oncoming cheers, just low agitated murmurs that began to spread through the room. Sasuke could see that the people were not happy their future prince woud be a demon with a reputation for turning on its own people.

"We won't accept this!"

"Is this some sick joke?"

"This is an outrage! Get him out of here."

Sasuke stood up slowly, calmly, and spoke firmly out into the crowd with a mild yell, "My soulmate is Uzumaki Naruto. You do not have a choice in the matter!"

"Then you should leave from rule as well, Prince Sasuke!" Someone in the crowd announced.

"Yes take your fox demon and go. We refuse to be governed by some unloyal rampaging beast!"

Sasuke's face dropped. His own people would no longer accept his rule with Naruto by his side. He couldn't rally the attention of the people as the angry mumbles began to grow louder and louder.

* * *

(*Naruto*)

There was that word again. 'Prince.' People only seemed to use the term when they were mad or threatening Sasuke. Even Sasuke's own father had called him as such. He saw Sasuke's face drop into a hurt expression and saw red. Naruto would not let anyone threaten or hurt his Sasuke, ever! He got up and crouched down on all fours letting out a feral snarl that instantly shushed everyone in the room. His eyes had gone from their usual ocean blue to a flaming scarlet color.

"How do we even know that he's really a fox demon?! The prince could be fooling us to try and gain more influence in the Royal Bloodline!" Some brave soul in the crowd decided to shout. Naruto instantly saw this as an insult to Sasuke, calling him a prince and saying he was someone who would tell lies in the same statement was unforgivable.

He bolted forward and caught the unsuspecting demon by the throat. He refused to let his ears and tail show due to Sasuke's warning not to, but his power was still bursting at the seams. He did not need to prove anything to anyone anymore. He had spanned the room in half a second before everyone's eyes. No one could doubt what he was and the power he held. Naruto stood still tensed, preparing to end this persons life for insulting, hurting, and shaming Sasuke. He pulled back his free arm to deliver the finishing blow…

* * *

**Author Note:** I think I have finally hit a place where its fun to write every sentence. Let's see what happens next, yes? I can say that I am contemplating Itachi x Kisame but no one has voted for it so *sad face*, I guess that's out.

Index Link is also posted on my profile.

It just gives a ratio for tails-to-color-to power for fox demons.

Any questions, you guys? If there are any good ones, I might actually give away a few spoilers. You have been warned.

I wanted to thank all my reviewers. You really are the only reason I am typing this right now. You think I like sitting hunched over a laptop typing out these words for hours? My hands hurt! And my back is screaming bloody murder!


	6. Boys Will be Animals

**Authors Note :** I understand that no one wants to wait forever for a new chapter an that short chapters suck, but i have a lot of stuff going on. Sorry guys. This still is my first fiction. I am not even halfway done with this story. Sasuke and Naruto's relationship is barely even out of the water. THIS STORY IS RATED M FOR A REASON! But don't worry, I won't make you wait too long. Unfortunately, there is supposed to be some sort of disclaimer. Well here.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a work of fiction. I wanna to cry. I cannot own my cute little Naru. *sobs***

* * *

**WARNING:**This WILL be a SasuNaru fiction so if you don't like, DON'T READ IT! You have been warned. There is also a bit of OOCness here and there in the story.

* * *

_He pulled back his arm to deliver the finishing blow…_

"Naruto."

Naruto's hand stopped in it's decent towards the demon's throat, pausing frozen in midair. Naruto turned around back to the throne where Sasuke stood calmly. The look on his face causing Naruto's whole demeanor to change.

Sasuke raised a challenging eyebrow at Naruto. He immediately dropped the hold he had on the demons throat leaving him gasping for air. He turned to fully face Sasuke sheepishly. His eyes had faded to a royal purple, not yet fully back to their ocean blue.

"Come here." Sasuke's voice was gentle, but left no room for argument. Naruto quickly bounded his way back over to Sasuke, the crowd parting for him. He glanced up at Sasuke with a sheepish apologetic grin on his face. He was glad to have Sasuke's attention and nuzzled against his chest asking for forgiveness.

When he felt Sasuke reach up and gently rub his head, he leaned against the touch happily. He decided to kneel down so that Sasuke's hand could rest comfortably on his head rubbing gently against in head without getting tired from being held up.

He was happy knowing that Sasuke was not mad at him. He contently stayed kneeled down satisfied with having Sasuke's hand resting gently atop his head.

Naruto's outburst had caused a welcome change in the crowd.

"He...He controlled him."

"He commanded his actions with a mere word!"

"He truly is our demon prince, isn't he? Able to control a demon fox on a whim."

"Maybe this could be allowed."

Naruto turned his head and sneered down at the crowd. His body began to slip back into a crouch once again. 'These people would still insult Sasuke right in front of his face?' Just as Naruto tensed up, Sasuke's hand flicked in front of his face in a halting motion. He glanced up at Sasuke's face. Sasuke's brows were furrowed looking for the reason for Naruto's aggression.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"They still dare to call you a prince!" Naruto growled out under his breath at Sasuke, flailing his hand out towards the crowd of people, who were too busy in their accepting murmurs to pay attention.

"Naruto. Prince is my honorary title. It shows respect, even when people are less than happy with me."

"Huh?"

"Well, what did you think it meant?"

"Those beings, uh...humans that were chasing you yesterday called you a prince like it was an insult, so i just assumed it was bad. Sorry Sasuke." Naruto nudged his head against Sasuke's hip asking for forgiveness.

"Get up, Naruto." Sasuke said gently, while stroking Naruto's head.

Naruto stood with a full blown grin on his face and bowed his head just slightly in submission without breaking eye contact with Sasuke. Naruto's eyes had yet to return to their natural color.

Sasuke turned back to the crowd. "That is all. I will be going now. The mating ceremony will be held at a later date. Thank you for your time." Sasuke turned and left, Naruto trailing happily on his heels, leaving the crowd stunned in silence at the abrupt dismissal. They could no longer question Sasuke either. To Naruto, none of them even mattered anyway. No one mattered but Sasuke in his world. Naruto would follow him anywhere.

"Naruto. How would you feel about going back into the forest?" Sasuke asked as they made it back to the palace training grounds. Naruto was confused. 'Is Sasuke trying to get rid of me?'

"Why?" Naruto asked cautiously. Sasuke appeared to see the wariness in Narutos eyes because he immediately explained himself.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a run in the woods is all. You could show me where you lived and everything. The announcement is out of the way and I would like to show you something." Sasuke clarified.

"Oh okay! Show me what?"Naruto asked already sprinting towards the treeline. Sasuke managed to catch up, his natural speed matching Narutos built up endurance.

"It's a surprise!" Sasuke said with a smirk on his face. Naruto couldn't wait.

* * *

(Normal P.O.V.)

After about 40 minutes of running they had gotten to familiar surroundings. Sasuke could remember this place from when he was being chased the other day. Had the humans really been chasing him for that long? They approached a hollowed out tree with some sort of makeshift roof and Sasuke looked at it appreciatively. "This is it then?" Sasuke asked contemplatively.

"This is where you've been living? How in the world did you survive out here?"

"The animals around here helped me out and then I just lived I guess. Its not like there was an abundance of predators out here and the food isn't scarce either. None of the demons come this far out for prey I'm guessing." Naruto said sheepishly.

"You're amazing Naruto." Sasuke said prodding curiously at the roof and moss bed. "This is quite the cozy spot you have here"

" Yeah, I guess it is. What did you have to show me?" Sasuke noticed the change in subject and guessed Naruto wasn't comfortable with the scrutiny of his home.

"Well I wanted to show you something I have never let anyone see before, ever. It's a big step and starts the mating process if you think you're ready for it." Sasuke said with a hopeful sounding voice.

"You have to kiss me first. Whatever that is? I love you Sasuke. I trust you. And I'm hoping that you showing me this proves you trust me. I want to show you how much I love you Sasuke. That's what you said the kiss was for right?"

Sasuke swallowed and looked Naruto directly in the eye. Uchihas weren't good at showing emotions, so Sasuke didn't say I love you back. It was almost a foreign phrase to him. But he could show Naruto with actions. That seemed like his best bet. He was about to trust Naruto with something special anyway. He strode up to Naruto with confidence, though on the inside he was very nervous. He gently wrapped his arms around Naruto waist, who leaned into the embrace looking up at Sasuke confused and expectant. Sasuke tilted his head down a gently pressed his lips against Narutos.

It felt like kissing pure heaven. Narutos lips were warm and smooth, but not soft. They were firm and did not give under Sasuke's, which was welcomed by himself. He put a little pressure into the kiss and parted his lips slightly, causing Naruto to do the same. Sasuke pulled back a little and placed one more lingering kiss on Naruto sucking on his bottom lip before pulling back and resting his forehead against Naruto's. They both stared into each others eyes hearts beating faster and sharing their breaths before smiles broke out on both of their faces.

"I think I very much like kissing you, Sasuke."

"I do too, and it just gets better." Sasuke said with a smirk. He was fully content with himself now and had no doubt in his mind that he could tell Naruto anything.

"Okay. Im glad we are this far out here where no one can find us. I dont want anyone to accidentally see us. You Ready?"

"I think so."

Sasuke crouched his body and ran at Naruto. With a loud series crack and the sound of ripping clothes, Sasuke landed on Naruto in the form of a large black tiger with deep dark red eyes. Sasuke in this form completely covered Naruto. His body was a good 8 1/2 feet long and he stood a little over 4ft tall. He roared in Naruto's face baring his teeth, before rolling over on his back growling lightly and pawing at the air like a kitten. He wanted to show Naruto that he meant no harm. Never before had he been in this form in the presence of others. His animal form was his true nature and he did not want anyone to see it, that is until now.

Sasuke slinked over to Naruto, who was looking at him in awe. Sasuke nuzzled his hand and Naruto ran it through his soft, thick black fur, tracing along the almost invisible stripes. His hand ran over Sasuke's features petting along the bridge of his nose and toying with his whiskers before Sasuke lightly nipped at his fingers. Sasuke pushed against Naruto's side batting against Naruto's hips trying to urge him to shift too. Naruto seemed to get the idea and shifted into his fox form that he had told Sasuke about.

Naruto was rather large for a fox at a good 4 feet long without counting his tail standing almost 3 ft tall, but was still small compared to Sasuke's form beside him. Size and power were two different things though. Naruto's small form radiated the power hidden within his body. Narutos golden fur was, as rumored, a sight to behold. It shone anywhere the light would hit it and looked so soft and fluffy with Narutos white tipped ear and tail still adding his own cute touch. Naruto had warm honey gold colored eyes in this form and Sasuke couldn't bring himself to look away.

Sasuke and Naruto were both two rare powerful beings and even though they could technically talk telepathically, Sasuke decided to use body language to convey that he could not be more proud or happy at this moment. That was, until Naruto had decided he wanted to play with Sasukes tiger.

Naruto ran forward and pounced onto Sasukes back nibbling on one black ear before jumping off, using Sasuke's shoulder as a springboard to dart away. Sasuke could see all the bottled up energy the little fox had and Sasuke did not mind at all. He shot after the little fox, his powerful limbs putting him right on his tail.

Naruto knew the area and would dart to and fro hiding behind shrubs and trees. At one point he ran through a small pool of water on the ground, splashing Sasuke behind him in the process. His yipping laughter could be heard echoing off the trees.

Sasuke decided he had enough and put extra power in his next stride. He leaped over Naruto and landed in front of him. Naruto rammed into his strong front paws knocked them both backwards. Sasuke landed on top and playfully began to swat at Naruto's form underneath him with one of his large paws. Naruto squirmed and kicked to get away from the offending paw but let out playful growls and squeaks.

Naruto batted at Sasuke's nose and made him pull back sneezing at the weird sensation. Naruto nipped at Sasuke's jaw above him and yipped happily. Sasuke bent down and rubbed his head against Naruto's small form under him, releasing his scent and marking Naruto. Naruto tilted his head up and rubbed the side of his face against Sasuke's throat doing the same.

Naruto licked the side of Sasuke's snout and Sasuke pulled back letting him up.

The first stage of the mating process had started. Naruto and Sasuke had accepted each others scents and it was quite the fun experience. Sasuke felt at peace with knowing that everyone would know Naruto belonged to him now by his scent.

Sasuke didn't feel like going back to the palace tonight so they decided to spend the night at Naruto's home since there was enough space. Sasuke's tiger didn't feel like shifting back at the moment either. It had been a while since it was let out like this, so Sasuke decided to stay in this form. He padded over to the tree and laid down on his side. His tail and limbs spread out on the soft moss. His tail flicked lightly where it lay making soft thumps every time it hit the ground.

Naruto surprisingly had tired himself out and was walking slowly towards Sasuke. Without any hesitation at all, he curled up beside Sasuke so that his back ran along Sasuke's chest and stomach while his head and one of his paws rested on Sasukes front paws. He immediately settled down to go to sleep after lightly licking under Sasuke's chin. Sasuke drifted to sleep with the sound of Naruto's soft pants and the feel of him warm against his side.

* * *

(*Naruto*)

He woke up to the sound of light snores in his ears. His ears were twitching slightly because light puffs of air kept brushing against his ears. Somehow during the night he had moved so that he was rested right in between Sasuke's two front legs with Sasuke's head lying right beside his own. He felt warm and protected in this position like he didn't have a care in the world with Sasuke by his side. Sasuke had shifted one of his paws closer to his face and in turn brought Naruto closer as well.

Naruto's stomach rumbled underneath them and suddenly Sasuke lifted his head up to look down at Naruto. Naruto, was embarrassed and slipped his tail between his legs, upset for waking Sasuke up. He had wanted to stay that way for a while. Sasuke would probably be mad at him for waking him up for something this stupid.

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

He wasn't a light sleeper for nothing. He was immediately alert when he heard Naruto growling underneath him. When he looked down he saw Naruto's innocent face and wondered if he was just hearing things. As he looked over Naruto he saw that the tail, usually standing proud, was hidden in between Naruto's legs. What was he afraid of? Sasuke looked around and sniffed the air for some sort of threat, until he heard the noise again coming from underneath him. He looked down again and tilted his head. Narutos muzzle had a tinge of pink by his nose in some sort of fox like blush. Oh, so that's what it was. His mate was hungry. If that was all Sasuke could easily go find something to eat.

He stood up and shook his fur out gently. As he looked under himself at Naruto, he saw the fox looking up at him warily as if he expected him to attack. Sasuke growled out a laugh. Naruto thought he would be upset that he was hungry? Well that was certainly a thought, but Sasuke was excited for Naruto to see how his tiger could hunt and provide.

Just to tease Naruto he loomed over the poor fox and bared his teeth. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut expecting the worst. Sasuke couldn't believe this little creature beneath him was the most powerful being that had ever lived. Sasuke lightly nipped at one of Naruto's ears and pushed Naruto with his head so that he rolled over. Naruto looked up at him surprised when Sasuke lightly licked at the fur between Naruto's eyes.

He turned around and began to walk off into the forest looking for prey, but glanced back at Naruto to see if he was following. The little fox quickly jumped up and ran after Sasukes retreating form.

Sasuke bounded ahead into the underbrush that would lead into a clearing he had ran through previously. He stopped and waited for Naruto , masking his presence and silently asking Naruto to do the same.

He picked up Naruto by the neck gently with his teeth and climbed up a nearby tree, bring Naruto with him. He put Naruto's body on a high up branch where he was well hidden but would have a good view. He leapt down from the branches and thumped silently on the ground. He could sense a few deer in the clearing up ahead.

He knew from Naruto's stories that the biggest thing Naruto had caught was a large hare or racoon. Sasuke wanted to impress Naruto. As he silently stalked into the tall grasses in the meadow like clearing, he could see a strong buck standing at attention. There were several does and another young buck so Sasuke wouldn't do any damage to the herds survival.

He silently crept forward knowing that he was practically invisible.

In the wild, the tiger's striped coats help them to camouflage in tall grasses but sometimes they were given away by a flash of light that reflected off of the orange in their coats. Sasuke on the other hand had a distinct advantage, his stripes helped him to blend with the tall grass and his almost pitch black coat made him appear as nothing more than a large shadow.

He was able to creep up to about a meter away from the unsuspecting buck before he froze and tensed up his muscled in preparation to strike. Suddenly the bucks head went up in alertness, but it was too late. Sasuke pounced and ended the deer's life in one fluid motion, not wanting to cause any unnecessary pain.

The other deer had fled from the scene and Sasuke dragged the deer's body over to the tree where he hid Naruto. He lifted his head up trying to present his kill but Naruto stayed crouched down frozen on the branch. Sasuke dropped the dear and carefully scaled the tree keeping his eyes on Narutos frozen form.

* * *

(*Naruto*)

He couldn't believe his eyes. Sasuke had taken down that deer as if it were nothing. Naruto always had to take extra care when hunting even with small animals and he had hunted all of his life. Sasuke had only hunted a few times before in practice and was able to take down one of the biggest prey that was present in the forest so easily. Sure Naruto was fast and had the strength to do it, but skill was a different matter.

He felt Sasuke next to him in the tree and turned to him with an awestruck look on his face. Sasuke looked concerned and Naruto realised he had been staring,too deep in thought, frozen in the tree like some crazy animal.

He hopped down onto a limb closer to Sasuke and glanced down at the deer before looking at Sasuke expectantly. Sasuke didn't seem to get the idea until Naruto's stomach growled loudly once more. Sasuke quickly picked Naruto up and swung him onto his back before leaping from branch to branch until they reached the bottom of the tree.

Naruto was proud of Sasuke's kill and impressed at the sheer skill and power he enemated. It must've shown in his gaze because Sasuke stood upright with his tail up proudly in the air. Sasuke nudged the kill towards Naruto in offering waiting for Naruto to take the first bite. Naruto accepted the offering and helped himself. A few short moments later and Sasuke joined him in their meal. Between the two of them they finished off the deer and buried the remains as to not attract any scavengers.

Sasuke was trying to clean himself off, but the black fur made it difficult to see where the blood was. Naruto decided to take Sasuke to his special place when he usually went after hunting to clean up and relax. It was his favorite place in the forest and no one knew where it was except for him. If Sasuke was willing to show him everything, then so was Naruto.

"_Hey teme?" _Naruto called through the mind link.

"_Yes dobe?" _Sasuke looked up from his sad attempt of cleaning himself.

"_Wanna go somewhere fun?" _Naruto's fox bounded up towards the tiger and put a paw on his face looking into the alluring blood red eyes. "_I mean somewhere really fun. It's my favorite place in the world. We can clean ourselves up there."_

"_I would love to see it, Naruto." _Sasuke's deep voice resonated through Naruto's mind. He wasn't used to having someone talk back to him. Usually he would ask one of the animals something and they would just nod or lead him to what he was looking for. It made the effect of Sasuke's voice that much greater.

Naruto hoped his nose wasn't pink, or at least that Sasuke wouldn't notice it. Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky. He could see Sasuke's whiskers twitching with suppressed laughter.

Naruto pouted, well the best he could in his fox form anyway, and turned to lead the way. He whipped his tail proudly in the air as he tried to show his annoyance at Sasuke while displaying strength once again.

Upon reaching the entrance to his special place he glanced back at Sasuke and paused. The entrance was concealed behind a wall of vines and the rest of the place was surrounded by walls of large willow trees and other overhanging plants. He slipped through the entrance and darted towards the light through the large palm leaves covering the other side of the entrance. He could hear Sasuke following behind him and and Naruto broke through the opening he ran and turned a corner to hide. He wanted to see Sasuke's reaction to his special place.

Sasuke burst out of the opening and scanned the area probably looking for Naruto, but then he finally took notice of his surroundings and and froze.

* * *

(*Sasuke*)

'Where did he go?' Sasuke thought to himself as he looked for a flash of golden fur. He stopped in his pursuit when he recognised the view that was in front of him.

There was a small waterfall that fed into a small lake at the base. It had white water lilies all around the clear lake. The water was so clear he could see the small fish swimming along the bottom. The waterfall created a light mist that kept the air cool. There were large moss covered rocks placed in random positions around the lake that looked like perfect sitting spots. The surrounding thick willow trees gave the place a secluded feeling, like nothing from the outside mattered now.

It was not the beauty of the place that froze Sasuke in his tracks. It was not the excitement at finally being able to clean himself either; he realised that this is how Naruto had been able to be decently clean when he found him.

No. What had brought Sasuke to almost lose his footing in shock, was the fact that he had a painting of this place. It was his mother's painting before she had passed away. She would tell him how she would go to her sanctuary and meet up with another demon who became her best friend. Her name was Kushina, but mom never knew what kind of demon she was. They would sit in the small sanctuary and talk for hours.

Mom said that right before Sasuke was born, Kushina gave her the painting as a gift so that she could have a reminder since she would be too busy with a second son to visit as often. Kushina was due to give birth soon as well.

Sasuke's mom would say that she missed the special place and wonder what happened to Kushina. Around the time that Kushina was due to give birth, his mom lost all contact. His mom has feared the worst, thinking she had passed in childbirth, but Sasuke believed that Kushina may have been a fox demon and passed in the attack.

Sasuke could support that hypothesis even more now. Maybe that was how Naruto had escaped the raid. Kushina must've brought Naruto out here to hide him and had to leave him alone for some reason. It was a long shot but it fit. Sasuke's mind was going a mile a minute all the while still frozen in place. He wouldn't tell Naruto what he thought until he was sure.

Naruto. He had forgotten all about trying to find Naruto. He heard rustling to the left and saw Naruto come out from behind a tangle of branches, approaching him with a sad expression.

"_You don't like it?" _Naruto's head was hung low.

"_I love it Naruto. It's so beautiful. It's just…" _Sasuke let out a huff of air. His 'voice' had gotten weaker. The words just were not coming out. This was his mother's secret to him and Naruto had been here surviving. It just doubled the meaningfulness of the place. The only two people who had ever cared about him loved this special place.

"_My….My mother used to come here. She had a….a picture in her private study of this place." _Sasuke looked over to Naruto with glassy eyes. He wouldn't let the tears fall, he had not cried since he was an infant. Naruto ran over to him and nuzzled his throat in a comforting gesture.

"_You wanna leave?" _Naruto turned and headed to the entrance tail hanging low.

Sasuke did not mean to hurt Naruto's feelings. He loved it here and did not want to leave so soon. If anything he wanted to stay here forever.

He must've accidentally broadcasted his thoughts because Naruto suddenly perked up his tail and ears, turning to pounce on top of Sasuke. He winded Sasuke knocking him over and proceeded to lick his face happily.

"_You mean it?! Really?" _

"_Yeah…. Now get the hell off me dobe." _Sasuke said teasingly.

As soon as Naruto removed himself, Sasuke walked over to the lake. He looked into his reflection in the clear water seeing Naruto's face come up besides him. He could see how well they looked together. Naruto's bright golden fur complemented Sasuke's black so well. Their eyes starkly contrasted each others, seeming like two sides of the same coin.

Sasuke had an interesting thought and jumped head first into the lake, purposely splashing Naruto in the process.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So what did you guys think? I put a lot of effort in to this one to make up for last week. Hope you all enjoy it. This is why it took me a little longer to write. Also I don't have anymore pre-written material. Most of this is from an outline and me going along with the story. I read back through it and don't remember writing half of it. I think whoever Itachi will be paired up with will be revealed towards the end of the next chapter and Maybe all through chapter 8-9. The main point of the story will be revealed soon as well. No. This is not just a fluffy love story. Look forward to the next chapter, "The Mysteries of Mating."


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